


Aang Hunt

by watery_melon_baller



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Blanket Permission, Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Post-Canon, Shenanigans, Swearing, The Gaang - Freeform, The Gaang Lets Loose, They all have a good time, toph says fuck, zuko is sleep deprived
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 23:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29849118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watery_melon_baller/pseuds/watery_melon_baller
Summary: "Where’s Aang?” Katara demanded, throwing open the door with a slam.Zuko jumped, startled. “What the fuck?”Katara ignored him. “Aang still hasn’t shown up! It’s been three days, and we haven’t so much as heard anything from him! I know he’s off dealing with some Avatar- spirit- business, but he should be here by now!”orA few months after the end of the war, the Gaang is excited for an excuse to meet up again. But when Aang fails to show up, the other five must set out on a quest to find the Avatar.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	1. The Hunt Begins

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Welcome to our first real collaboration! This account is now over a year old, and we decided it's about time we write something together. We originally had a different idea, but it had absolutely no direction so we have this now! This story is fully written, so y'all will get the joy of regular updates. -Aru
> 
> hello! yes I've been ignoring identity fraud but we wrote this instead so *jazz hands* -lilac

This weekend was supposed to be straightforward. Keyword being supposed to. 

There was going to be a conference for world leaders, held in Ba Sing Se. The Gaang had taken that as an excellent opportunity to meet up. They’d all been so busy after the war that all six of them hadn’t all been able to get together since Zuko’s coronation. They would all admit they missed it, if only a little bit; the companionship, the clear goals and freedom. It turns out, diplomacy and rebuilding, as important as they were, could be a drag. 

Katara, for one, had been very much looking forward to seeing everyone when she arrived at Ba Sing Se four days before the summit, just like they’d all agreed upon. The place looked nice, all things considered; the city had been relatively unscathed by the war, even after it had fallen. Other places had not been so lucky, Katara reflected sadly. 

Nevertheless, she was greeted by a large Earth Kingdom escort, thankfully none being Joo Dees this time. Still, it seemed a lot just for her. She’d still hardly gotten used to the notoriety, being one of the key figures in ending the war and the Avatar’s waterbending master. 

They brought her to the upper ring and showed her into a wide pavilion ringed with trees. The man leading the procession gestured towards the farthest of three structures that sat on the pavilion’s edge. “Your friends should be in there,” he said with a smile.

Katara dipped her head respectfully. “Thank you,” she said, breaking away from her escort and making her way over to the structure he had indicated. She broke into a grin as she slid it open. 

“Who’s– oh, Katara!” Sokka waved from his position on the floor as Katara stepped over the threshold. He was leaning back against one of the room’s two couches.

“Hello,” Zuko greeted. He was sitting slouched on the couch next to Sokka, looking absolutely exhausted. 

“Hey,” Suki said. She was perched on the armrest of one of the two chairs.

“It’s so good to see you guys,” Katara said. She glanced around. “No Aang or Toph?” 

“Not yet,” said Sokka with a shrug. 

Katara settled onto the second couch, tucking her legs underneath her and laying backwards so her head lay on the armrest. 

“How’ve you been?” Suki asked. 

Katara chuckled. “Busy, but it’s been good. We’re really made some progress rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe. And–” Katara’s smile grew softer “–we found two new waterbenders.  _ Southern  _ waterbenders.”

“That’s great,” Suki said, the corners of her lips turning up. The rest of the gaang gave murmurs of agreement. 

“How about you guys?” Katara asked. 

“Being Firelord sucks,” Zuko groaned, collapsing his head in his hands. “There are so many bitchy nobles.” Sokka gave his leg a sympathetic pat.

“Guess who’s back, bitches!”, a voice called. Everyone in the room looked up as the doors were whisked dramatically open to reveal Toph. 

“About time,” Katara teased. 

Toph stuck her tongue out. “I’m fashionably late.” She jumped into the chair next to Suki’s, feet on the backrest and head upside-down.

“So where have  _ you  _ been?” Suki asked, raising an eyebrow.

Toph waved a hand with a cheeky grin. “Oh, you know. Here and there. Sometimes I hang out with Sparky, sometimes I go around immortalizing our achievements in stone.” 

Sokka choked. “Wait, those reports of Toph statues ‘mysteriously appearing’ all over the Earth Kingdom are  _ real?”  _

Toph only smirked in response. 

\-----

When Aang didn’t show up the next day, no one was too worried. It made sense that his Avatar business might take longer than scheduled; no one was going to protest that. 

But on the third day, people started to become concerned. More specifically, the gaang started to become concerned. 

“Where’s Aang?” Katara demanded, throwing open the door with a  _ slam _ . 

Zuko jumped, startled. “What the fuck?” 

Katara ignored him. “Aang still hasn’t shown up! It’s been three days, and we haven’t so much as heard anything from him! I know he’s off dealing with some Avatar- spirit- business, but he should be here by now!”

Zuko gave her an unamused look from where he lay in the bed. “It’s three am. Couldn’t you have bothered anyone else about this?” 

Katara crossed her arms, giving him that no-nonsense glare that meant that there was no way he was getting out of this. Zuko let out a heavy sigh. “Fine.” Reluctantly, he dragged himself to his feet. 

Katara smiled. “Now we’ll go wake the others.” She turned and walked back into the hallway. 

“Can I at least get dressed?” Zuko called. 

Katara didn’t respond as she marched out into the hallway. Zuko took that as a yes and threw on some day clothes as quickly as he could. 

A couple of minutes later, the gaang were all gathered in various positions around Katara’s room. 

“Katara, why did you wake us all up at 3 am?” Toph asked, her hair a mess. 

“Katara, why were you even  _ up  _ at 3 am?” Sokka added. 

“I’m a waterbender. We thrive at night.”

“Yeah, well I’m a firebender, and we thrive during the day, which means I should be  _ asleep  _ right now,” mumbled Zuko, who currently had his face shoved into a pillow. 

Katara waved her hand. “Details. Anyway, I didn’t wake you all up for nothing.” Her expression twisted into concern. “I’m worried about Aang. I think we should go look for him.” 

Sokka quirked an eyebrow. “Are you sure it’s not just nothing? I mean, Aang is the Avatar, and he probably knows best how to deal with all that spirit world stuff.”

“Yes, but it’s been three days!” Katara retorted. 

“Katara might be right”, Suki said, getting to her feet. “If something has gone wrong, we really should go help Aang.” 

Katara nodded. “We should go tonight. Get this done quickly. Maybe no one will even notice we’re gone.”

“Ditching the diplomacy, are we, Sugar Queen?” Toph said, smirking. “I never thought you had it in you.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sokka said, waving his hands as he stood up. “Even assuming that Aang does need help, this isn’t a very good plan. For one thing, people are definitely going to notice that we’re gone.” He pointed to Zuko. “You’re the Firelord–” Suki “–you’re the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors–” Katara “–you’re one of the key figures of the Southern Water Tribe...” Sokka paused as his finger landed on Toph. “And you’re…” 

“Sparky’s lie detector." Toph supplied.

“...that,” Sokka said slowly. He shook his head. “Point is, people will definitely notice if we all just pick up and leave literally a day before the summit starts. Secondly, we have no idea where to even look! It’s not like Aang told us where he was going.” 

Katara dropped onto the bed. Her brother was right, she had to admit it. There was a reason he was the plan guy. 

“Okay,” Suki said. “So let’s figure out how we can do this better.” 

“We need supplies,” Zuko offered half-heartedly, voice muffled by the pillow. 

“Good!” Suki said. “What else?” 

“I still think we should leave now, or at least at night”, Katara said. “That way no one will stop us.” 

A faint groan could be heard from Zuko. 

Sokka nodded. “That part works. As for finding Aang…” Sokka brought a hand to his chin, letting out a hmmm as his eyes clouded over in thought. “People must have seen him. If we can find his body, where he went into the spirit world, maybe we can figure out how to fix whatever’s holding him up.” Sokka paused again. The silence lasted a beat before Sokka threw up his hands with a triumphant “Aha!” 

“Care to share with the class, Snoozles?”, Toph said.

Sokka nodded. “I think we should be able to track Aang by following the rumors. It’s pretty hard to hide the Avatar, especially now that Aang doesn’t  _ need  _ to conceal who he is. All we have to do is follow the towns he was spotted in.” 

Katara nodded slowly. “That could work.” 

“Let’s do it, then,” Toph said, a grin spreading over her face. 

\-----

Half an hour later, the Gaang all met up outside, now carrying traveling bags with bedrolls, weapons, and clothing, as well as some food and canteens Suki and Toph had filched from the palace kitchens. Zuko, who looked not a single bit less exhausted than he had when Katara had first woken him up, held a small flame cupped in his palm, dimly illuminating the groups’ faces.

“So are we just gonna… walk out of the city?” Zuko asked. 

“I  _ do  _ know a better way,” Toph said, a lopsided smirk coming over her face. 

“Toph…” Katara said slowly. 

“C’mon, don’t you guys trust me?” Toph made a show of innocence. 

“Trust you on what, exactly?” Suki asked. 

“This!” Toph stomped her foot, and the group was lifted up on a wave of earth. Yelps abounded until everyone managed to regain their footing. Toph, meanwhile, began earthbending them down the street at a rapid speed. 

“This is not inconspicuous!”, Sokka screeched. He was crouched low, knuckles white as he gripped Suki’s leg. 

“Are you not enjoying this, Snoozles?” Toph cackled. 

Sokka did indeed look like he was not enjoying this. In fact, he looked rather sick. 

“Besides,” Toph continued. “This is totally inconspicuous! We’re not disturbing anything. I’m keeping it quiet and staying on the side streets. No one will know we were ever there.” 

Sokka still looked sick, but didn’t protest further. Toph’s transportation services were as effective as she promised; they reached the outer wall in no time. Toph lowered them to the ground, setting the earth back down just as it had been before. 

Sokka promptly stuck his head in a pot. In the meantime, Suki turned to the rest of the Gaang awkwardly as Zuko sparked up another flame; it was even darker out here than it had been in the upper ring. “So… good job, Toph.” Toph grinned back. 

“Let’s go, then”, Katara said. “You ready, Sokka?”

Sokka gave a feeble thumbs-up, face still shoved in the pot. 

Sokka was able to pick himself up pretty quickly, and Toph bent them a tunnel through the outer wall. A few minutes later, the gaang emerged into the fields surrounding the cities. It was quiet, peaceful, stars clear above them and the wind rustling through the grass. The faint chirps of crickets drifted through the air. 

“Ready for another ride?” Toph asked devilishly. Sokka let out an incoherent choking noise in response. 

\-----

Eventually the five of them managed to reach a small Earth Kingdom town on the edge of the fields surrounding Ba Sing Se. Unfortunately for them, they arrived at five am, and only a few people were awake. They wound up making camp on the outskirts of town as they waited for everyone to wake up.

“Okay, here’s the plan," Sokka said, standing in front of the group. 

“We could sleep," offered Zuko, who had collapsed on his bedroll as soon as they landed.

“Once everyone’s up, we’re going to split up and ask around for any rumors about the Avatar”, Sokka continued, ignoring their resident firebender. He looked at them for confirmation. “Got it?”

Katara and Suki nodded in agreement. Toph yawned loudly. “Got it, Snoozles.”

Sokka turned to the final member of their group. “Zuko?”

There was a loud snore from Zuko's direction.

Sokka grinned. “All right!” He clapped his hands. “Now we wait!”

Toph raised a hand. “Can we go back to sleep now?” She looked towards Zuko, who had just passed out. “I don’t wanna be awake."

Sokka frowned. “No.”

Toph sat down with a  _ fwump _ . “Well, I don’t care.” And with that, she closed her eyes and laid back.

He turned to the other two girls desperately. “Don’t fall asleep on me too!”

Katara shrugged. “I’m full of energy, so I don’t think I’ll be falling asleep anytime soon.”

Suki’s mouth twisted downward. “It probably would be a good idea if we all got some rest before heading into town. I know I’m pretty exhausted.”

Sokka visibly drooped. “Not you too, Suki!”

She awkwardly grinned. “You and Katara can keep watch? And you guys can wake us up so we don’t sleep in late.”

Sokka scowled, but accepted this answer. “Fine.” Suki grinned and laid down to sleep.

Katara sighed and looked at her brother. “So, what do you wanna do for the next three hours?”

\-----

When Toph, Zuko, and Suki woke up, it was to the smell of something faintly burning and Sokka shrieking in terror.

Katara leaned back against a tree, watching as Sokka ran over to their small cooking pot, where a fire was crackling merrily away. She smirked as he quickly moved the large pot off of the fire, placing it on the ground.

“What is Sokka doing?” Toph asked, voicing the question everyone had.

Katara smiled. “I’m teaching Sokka how to cook! It’s about time he learns how to help out around here.”

Sokka screeched at her indignantly, but did nothing else to stop her. He gave the contents of the pot a quick stir with his spoon, before taking a quick taste. He smacked his lips and frowned thoughtfully. “Katara, it needs more seasoning.”

She got up, grabbing a small bag of spices. “Let me taste.” She grabbed the spoon and jammed it in her mouth. “Huh.”

Sokka looked up at her pleadingly. “Is it bad?”

She frowned at him. “It’s… a lot better than your first attempt? Here, I'll add the seasonings. It needs a delicate touch that you don’t have.” She fished out a few containers and shook them over the stew, giving it a few stirs with the spoon. She tasted it again, and let Sokka taste it as well. “Well, what do you think?”

Sokka weakly grinned. “It’s edible?”

“Lemme taste!” Toph moved towards them, grabbing the spoon and sticking it in her mouth. “Snoozles, this is pretty decent!”

Sokka preened. “Thank you, thank you! It’s a natural talent.”

Katara smacked him over the head. “No it isn’t, you just had a good chef telling you what to do. On his first try I let him do it on his own, and he somehow burnt the water!” Sokka pouted, and the others giggled as they sat down for breakfast.

After packing up camp, the five kids headed into the much more awake town. The previously empty streets were full of bustling people moving from stall to stall, selling all sorts of goods. 

Sokka smacked his fist in his palm. “Alright gang, let's split up! We can definitely find out something if we spread out…”

“Is that really a good idea?” Katara asked, crossing her arms.

Sokka threw his hands in the air. “I’m sorry, do you have a better idea?”

“Excuse me,” They turned to see that a man had walked over. There was a crowd beginning to form around the five of them. “Are you by chance friends of the Avatar?”

“We actually are!” Suki exclaimed. “We’re looking for him. Do you know if he stopped by here? Or anything about where he was last seen?”

A woman stepped out of the crowd. “Well, he hasn’t stopped by here, but my cousin said he visited her village. It’s a bit west of here.” She shrugged. “That’s all I know.”

Sokka nodded. “Thanks, that's a really big help!”

Unfortunately for them, that did not cause the crowd to disperse. If anything, it seemed to get larger, as more people wanted to talk to friends of the Avatar.

Toph groaned. “Fuck this. We don’t have  _ time _ to deal with fans!” And with a single stomp, an earth pillar erupted from the ground, launching the five of them into the air and away from the town.

They landed with a scream in the woods, skidding in the dirt. Somehow Toph had managed to launch them near the trail that would take them to the next town. A quick walk through the forest, with plenty of groaning from the other four, and they were back on the path.

Toph grinned. “Well, we made it to the road. You know what's next.”

Sokka sighed. “Do we really have to? Can’t we just walk?”

Toph cackled. “Nope!” And with a stomp of her foot, the five of them were being bent away, Sokka wailing all the while. 

\---

By the time they had made it to the next town, it was midafternoon. They had stopped at one point to eat a quick lunch, so they could focus more on finding Aang’s whereabouts.

“Ok guys, we need disguises,” Sokka said as neared the outskirts of the town. “We don’t want to get swarmed again like last time.”

Zuko nodded. “We’re going to need to be sneaky about this. Can you guys handle that?”

The other four teens nodded, and the group stealthily made their way to a shop. Well, Suki and Zuko stealthily made their way to a shop. Sokka, Katara, and Toph, not so much. 

Miraculously, though, the gaang managed to get there practically unnoticed. They did run into one group of young children, but a little convincing and a small bribe had persuaded them to keep quiet. 

Eventually, the gaang pushed their way into the shop, a small bell jangling as Sokka opened the door. It was a cozy place, all earthen walls and dark wood floors, and, thankfully, empty at this time of day. 

The shopkeeper, a bored-looking girl arranging a selection of fabrics behind the counter, turned around at their arrival. Her mouth formed into a little o when she saw who had entered. 

“We’re looking for some… new clothes”, Suki said.

The shopkeeper's eyes grew wide, and she quickly covered her mouth.

“Don’t make a big scene,” Sokka said smoothly as he stepped forward. “We’re kinda on the low down, looking for our good pal the Avatar. Any clothes and information would be nice.”

The shopkeeper nodded frantically. “Of course! Anything for friends of the Avatar!”, she said quickly, rushing from behind the counter. “What can I get you?”

“Hmm...” Toph hummed, bringing a hand to her chin. “I want this one.” With that statement, Toph made her way over to a massive suit of metal armour, about twice her height and looking just as heavy. Toph smacked the armour’s thigh plating, a smirk coming over her face. 

The rest of the gaang stared. The shopkeeper looked entirely at a loss. “Um… Toph?”, Sokka finally ventured. “That thing is huge.”

“So?”, Toph said challengingly. 

“How ya gonna… move it?” 

Toph stomped her foot, and the metal plating of the armor crumpled, folding outward. This earned a shocked gasp from the shopkeeper. Toph paid the poor woman no mind as she hopped in. With another jerk of her arm, the armor pulled back up around her. The faceplate opened to reveal Toph’s grinning face, now several feet higher off the ground than normal. 

“...I guess that takes care of Toph, then,” Sokka said, clasping his hands and turning back to the rest of the group as Toph, armour and all, stomped back over. “The rest of us can go find some clothes.”

\-----

Their small group spread out around the equally small shop, browsing the different possible selections. For such a small shop in such a small village, there was a surprising amount of variety. Katara walked over to the pair of coat racks in the far corner and began looking through the garments. Most of them were either tattered or faded, but they generally seemed to be in good condition. 

She landed on a long yellow trenchcoat, the hem brushing her ankles when she tried it on. It was far too big for her, the cuffed sleeves hanging loosely. She grabbed a second coat, this one an eye-watering shade of orange, and slipped it on underneath the yellow one. 

“What do you think?”, she asked Zuko, turning to show off the outfit. Zuko looked up, gaze traveling across the getup appraisingly. 

“Hmm… it’s missing something.” Zuko scanned the shop for a moment before going over to a shelf laden with various hats and pieces of eyewear. He grabbed a pair of thin-rimmed half-moon glasses, the lenses empty, and handed them to Katara. “Put these on.”

Katara did so, and then eyed her faint reflection in the window glass. “It works”, she said approvingly. 

Zuko, meanwhile, had turned back to the shelf. Tucked at the back, between two hats, was a black eyepatch. He grabbed it and held it up to his face. It would be large enough to cover his scar, which would definitely help him be less identifiable. Plus…

Zuko quickly made his way over to a bin of shirts. As he did, he accidentally bumped into Sokka. His face went red. “S- sorry.” 

“You’re all good”, Sokka said with a wave of his hand. He turned. “What do you think of this?” Out in front of him, Sokka held a crumpled shirt in fire nation red. Zuko had half a mind to wonder how an Earth Kingdom shop got a piece of clothing like that, before his brain caught up. 

“Uh… yeah, looks good”, Zuko said. He gave Sokka a thumbs up before hastily turning his attention on the bin of shirts, hoping Sokka hadn’t noticed his reaction. He found a shirt suitable for his needs, a nice sleeveless tunic in Earth Kingdom neutrals with laces running down the front. He also grabbed a thick dark green ribbon, and after a second’s deliberation, one of the large hoop earrings from the pair displayed on the counter before ducking into the small curtained-off area he figured was for changing. 

Suki picked up a faded green fan, intricately patterned with a design of vines. It was beautiful, sure, but it would probably also make her recognizable, just as much as her regular ones would. With a sigh, she set it down. As she did, a swath of blue fabric caught her eye. It was long and trailing, part of an elegant, long-sleeved dress with a high neckline. She smiled, an idea coming together. 

She grabbed the dress, along with a darker blue cloak and a beaded hairpiece. She could allow herself to have a _ little  _ fun with this, right? 

Suki changed in the back, taking a minute to style her hair into an updo with the hairpiece. It was a shame she didn’t have any of her paints on her. Finished, Suki went back into the shop proper and turned to Zuko, who had just emerged from behind the changing curtain. He was now wearing the tunic he had grabbed earlier, his dual swords strapped to his back. The ribbon was wrapped around his forehead, pulling back his bangs, and the large black eyepatch, impressively, completely covered his scar. In his left ear was a large golden hoop earring, glinting in the muted indoor light. Suki whistled. “Nice.” 

“Does it scream ‘pirate’?” Zuko brought a hand to his neck sheepishly. “I was going for pirate.” 

Suki nodded affirmingly. “I can see it.” Her gaze moved back to the earring. “I am curious, though, since when are your ears pierced?”

Zuko shrugged. “I was a sailor for three years. I did some dumb things.” 

Suki laughed. “How about me?” She struck a regal pose, spreading her arms out to show the full effect of the dress. “Do I look like a ‘bitchy noble’?”

Zuko snorted. “Spot on, honestly.” 

Everyone finally dressed in their disguises, they reconvened in front of the counter. Sokka stared at them all incredulously. “Guys, the point was to be inconspicuous!”

Katara held up a hand to her mouth to stifle a snicker. “Hate to break it to you, Sokka, but ‘wig beard’ doesn’t exactly say ‘subtle’.” 

Sokka spluttered indignantly. “This is a great disguise!” Said disguise was a bushy beard and moustache, complemented by a dark red shirt with absolutely massive shoulder pads. 

“So are all of ours, Snoozles”, Toph said with a grin. She brought up one armored finger with a wrenching of metal. “Onward!” 

Katara and Zuko followed Toph out of the store. With a groan, Sokka hurried after them. Suki turned to the open-mouthed shopkeeper with an apologetic smile. “I am so sorry about all of this.” She pulled out their coin purse (the gaang had all unanimously agreed that she should be in charge of the money). “How much will all of that be?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> The disguise scene was an absolute joy. This is probably going to be v disjointed to read because its two different writers mashed into one, but it's very sexy nevertheless -Aru
> 
> deleted scene:  
> sokka: can we even really call ourselves the gaang with no aang? we're just the gang now :(  
> katara: shut the fuck up
> 
> next update should be around Monday! make sure to go eat/drink something and take ur meds! love yall -lilac


	2. Investigation Mode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday! Here’s the new chapter, because we’re Responsible and prewrote this -Aru

After leaving the shop, the Gaang moved towards the buisier part of town. To their credit, the disguises did work, in the sense that they were no longer swarmed by fans wanting to meet the friends of the Avatar. But the rather...  _ unusual  _ nature of their outfits also attracted more than a few stares. 

This time, the Gaang did take Sokka’s suggestion and split up to ask around. There were a good amount of vendors and patrons at the market. That made sense, considering the weather, which was clear and unseasonably warm. 

Toph and Zuko were together, as were Katara and Suki, while Sokka split off on his own. They had unfortunately underestimated the amount of provisions they would need on this excursion, so Suki and Katara went to stock up. 

They reconvened a half hour later, Katara and Suki now with full bags. Zuko looked embarrassed, Toph had a huge smirk, and Sokka simply looked disappointed. 

Sokka clapped his hands together. “Alrighty. How’d everything go? Anyone learn anything?” 

“Oh, I learned something”, Toph snickered. Zuko grew redder, looking absolutely miserable. “Sparky here apparently-” 

“Anything useful,” Sokka amended, quickly cutting her off. 

“We did,” Katara said. “Aang passed through here a couple of weeks ago. He actually talked with one of the vendors we went to, or at least they say he did. According to them, he visited to resolve an issue between one of the nobles and a bunch of merchants.”

Sokka grinned. “Great! Any news on where he went after?”

“Well apparently he heard about a bunch of weird spirit activity in a couple villages south of here,” Suki said. “They said they last heard about him in Idika village, which was where there was the most spirit activity.”

“That’s awesome!” Sokka said. “We actually have a destination now!”

Toph raised her hand. “I also found out some very valuable information.”

Sokka turned to her very seriously. “Of course, share.”

Toph grinned, pointing at a miserable Zuko. “Sparky’s a fucking NERD!”

Zuko groaned. “Toph, we have more important things to focus on-”

“No, no, go on”, Sokka said, holding up his hands.

Toph grinned. “There was this local theatre group doing a show of  _ Love Amongst the Dragons _ , and Sparky stops to watch and immediately starts bitching about the performance!”

Katara and Suki started giggling. A single tear slid down Sokka’s cheek as he desperately attempted not to laugh.

“And then, when one of the actors started monologuing, he started complaining about him getting the lines wrong. Then he started actually quoting it, word for word! His heart rate practically  _ exploded _ , I thought he was going to climb onto the stage and-” Zuko quickly covered her mouth, glaring as he cut her off. In response, Toph gave his hand the grossest, slimiest lick known to mankind. Zuko pulled away with a disgusted shout and shot her a betrayed look as Toph stood there smugly.

Sokka turned to Zuko, doing his absolute best to keep a straight face. He wasn’t entirely succeeding. “Zuko, is this true?”

Zuko glared, looking absolutely miserable. “She’s lying.”

At that, Sokka couldn't take it anymore. He exploded with laughter, falling to his knees. “I-I’m sorry buddy, but that was some of the worst lying I’ve ever seen.”

Katara put a hand to her mouth, body shaking with laughter. “We don’t need to be Toph to tell that.”

Suki sympathetically patted Zuko’s shoulder. “It’s ok, everyone is passionate about something.”

Zuko only glared in return. “C’mon, let’s go.”

\-----

“Alright gang, we finally have a lead!” Sokka said enthusiastically as they made their way down a small, empty street, moving towards the outskirts of town. “But....we really need a better mode of transportation then Toph’s bending.” 

Toph nodded in agreement. “I’m getting pretty tired of carrying all of you.”

Zuko spoke up. “How about those?” He pointed to a stable full of ostrich horses. 

“That seems like a good idea,” Katara said. The rest of the gaang nodded, and they made their way over to the man in front of the stable, who was currently throwing armfuls of hay into the stalls. 

Sokka tapped his shoulder. “Is there any way we could purchase some of these fine animals?” he asked with a charming grin. 

The man turned around and looked over the five teens standing in front of him. “Er…”

“We can pay!” Katara added quickly. 

The man straightened. “Ah. I suppose I do have something. Come with me.” He put down his load of hay and turned, gesturing for the gaang to follow. The man led the way around the back of the stable to a different barn. “Now, I do only have three animals I can offer at the moment, but they’re in good health, and I’m sure they would suit your needs.” The man opened the doors into the barn, releasing a cloud of dust. Toph sneezed, and he shot her a glare. 

The man clicked his tongue. “Come’ere, girls.” There was a rustling, and three heads peeked out of a pile of straw in the back of the dimly lit space. One of the animals let out a horrific screech and rushed forward, shaking stalks out of its feathers as it ran. 

The man held up his hands. “Woah, woah!” The creature halted, a wild glint still in its eyes. The man turned back around, bringing his hands together with a bright smile. “Now, will you kids be needing tack as well?”

“Uhhhh… yeah.” Sokka said absently, his attention still focused on the ostrich horses. One was rolling on its back, flailing its legs wildly. The second still sat in the stack of straw, plunging its face in and out of the bedding repeatedly. The third was prancing restlessly behind the man, letting out the occasional squeal. 

“Wonderful”, the man nodded. “That’ll be 69,427 gold pieces! I can have the girls ready for you in ten minutes.”

Suki dug through her bag to fork over the coins. And ten minutes later, as promised, the man handed Sokka the reins of three ostrich-horses. “Thank you so much for your business. And please remember, no refunds. Happy travels!” The man promptly sped away. 

“Alrighty, then!” Sokka said, spinning on his heel. “Who’s riding with who? And how do we ride these guys?” 

“Wait, you guys DON’T KNOW HOW TO RIDE OSTRICH-HORSES?!” Zuko screeched in despair. He put his head in his hands and let out a muffled scream.

“Hey, I had one lesson!” Toph said cheerily. “When I was five. Before my parents decided it was too dangerous for their fragile little blind daughter.”

Zuko’s dismayed scream only got louder at Toph’s statement. 

“It can’t be that hard”, Sokka said with a wave of his hand. “Anyway, back to the first question: who’s riding with who?”

“I call my own!” Toph exclaimed. She snatched one of the pairs of reins out of Sokka’s hands. 

“Alright,” Sokka said. “That leaves me, Katara, Suki, and Zuko. Who’s riding with me?”

“I’m sorry, are we not going to address Toph riding by herself?” Katara asked.

Zuko waved a hand. “She said she had a lesson before, she’ll be fine.” As he said this, Katara took note of the fact that his eyebags seemed darker than before, and his hand was slightly shaking.

“Back to me,” Sokka said. He clumsily lifted himself onto one of the ostrich-horse’s backs. “Who wants to ride?”

Suki flushed. “Uh- I mean, I wouldn’t mind-”

At the same time, Zuko began stammering, his face almost as red as his firelord robes. “Well, I guess I could-”

Sokka grinned. “Ladies, ladies, you can both sit with me!” He smacked the ostrich horses rear, and it began neighing anxiously as it reared up. His expression quickly turned panicked as he yanked down on the reins. “Woah, girl!”

Suki and Zuko continued being completely incomprehensible in response.

Katara sighed, head in her hand. “If it’s such a big deal to you guys, I can just ride with him.” And with that, she climbed in front of Sokka, leaving Suki and Zuko to ride their own ostrich-horse together.

Seating arrangements figured out, the gaang set off down the street. As one might expect, it was an utter disaster. 

Toph spurred her ostrich horse on first. “Yah!” she called, giving the creature a kick in the side. The animal immediately startled, eyes going wide, and it let out an earsplitting screech. It began running forward. And kept going forward. Right into a wall. 

Meanwhile, Katara had begun steering her and Sokka’s mount. “This can’t be too hard”, she muttered, trying to reassure herself. Clutching the reins in her hands, she flicked them against the creature’s necck. “Go... forward!” she commanded. To her surprise, the ostrich-horse actually did. 

“Hey, you’re doing it!” Sokka said. Katara grinned. She shouldn’t have been so worried; this was easy!

“Okay, turn,” Katara told the creature confidently, yanking the reins sideways. The ostrich horse… certainly turned. All the way around. And began running that way. Very quickly. 

“Shit!” Sokka screeched. It was all the two Water Tribe siblings could do to keep from being tossed off as their ostrich-horse let out a wild cry and barreled straight towards an unsuspecting vendor. 

“Watch out!”, Katara cried. The poor vendor, who had been so close arranging all his beautiful cabbages on the shelf  _ just right,  _ spun around, his eyes going wide as he spotted the two teenagers and ostrich horse on a collision course for his stand. He only barely managed to dive out of the way before they hit, wrecking his perfect display. 

“My cabbages!” the vendor cried despondently.

“Sorry!” Katara called back with a grimace. But she didn’t get time to dwell on that as the ostrich-horse made a sharp swing right. Sokka screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to look. 

The animal abruptly stopped, then plunged its face into the pile of hay before it. 

The only gaang members whose ride didn’t immediately end in disaster were Zuko and Suki. Zuko, being the only one of them with experience, was steering the mount he and Suki shared. As such, he knew to keep the animal to a walk to start off with. He promptly pulled it to a stop when he saw the utter lack of control their friends had. 

“Oh, no…” Zuko groaned, plunging his face into his hands. 

Suki gave him a reassuring pat, then winced as she saw Katara and Sokka crash through the stall. “I… think we need to rethink our seating arrangements.”

Zuko nodded, face still in his hands. “Please, for the love of Agni, tell me  _ you  _ can at least handle an ostrich-horse.” 

Suki brought a hand to her chin. “I should be able to. Most of the time we travel on foot on Kyoshi Island, but I’ve done it a few times before.” Suki took the reins. “Now please go help them.” Suki’s eyes landed on Toph, who was now struggling to even stay on her mount. “I am begging you.”

With no further pause, Zuko slid off their ostrich-horse and ran to go try and salvage the chaos. 

Five minutes later, the gaang were all safely back on the ground, the reins of the three ostrich-horses clutched safely in Zuko’s hands. 

“Toph’s riding with me,” he said immediately. 

“Aw…” Toph whined. 

Zuko shot her a look. “After that-” he stuck his free hand out towards the dented wall, courtesy of Toph’s ostrich-horse riding “-you need all the help you can get.”

Toph grumbled, but didn’t protest further. 

“That leaves Suki, Katara, and I,” Sokka picked up. 

“I think I could take someone,” Suki offered. 

“But that leaves either Katara or Sokka on their own”, said Zuko. “Which is a problem.” His gaze darted over to the sobbing cabbage merchant, who had fallen to his knees ten feet away in mourning of his stand. 

“I kind of had control over it?” Katara offered hesitantly.

Zuko sighed exhaustedly. “Ok. I’ll teach Katara how to ride an ostrich horse, then we can  _ finally _ be on our way.”

Soon enough, the gang was off in the new arrangement. Zuko kept his mount close to Katara’s, just in case she lost control. It’s kind of hard to teach riding within the span of thirty minutes. 

Still, aside from a few small scares, it worked. The ostrich horses were fast, if a bit unruly. Soon enough, the gaang found themselves making camp on the edge of the village where Aang had last been seen. 

Katara wanted to go straight into the village, but everybody else agreed it was too late for that. Most people were asleep right now, and it would make more sense if they went into town tomorrow. Katara reluctantly agreed, and the five of them settled down to sleep.

\---

The next morning, the gaang made their way into Idika village, only having gotten lost a  _ few _ times. It was more remote than the ones they’d visited previously, the streets less busy. The roads were hard packed, and they elected to travel into the village on foot, leaving the ostrich horses tied with a healthy helping of hay that Zuko had purchased for them. 

“I hope this will be our last stop,” Katara said. “I don’t want this search to take weeks, or months.” 

“I’m sure Aang’s fine,” Suki said softly, putting a hand on Katara’s shoulder. 

Katara let out a breath, squaring her shoulders. “Definitely.” 

Suki turned her stare on Sokka, crossing her arms. “So can we ask for directions this time?” 

“I second that,” Zuko added, raising a hand tiredly. 

Sokka huffed. “I still think we don’t need directions, but fine.”

“Sokka, we got lost five times! We somehow wandered into a platypus-bear den! Platypus-bears don’t even live in this section of the earth kingdom!” Katara shouted in frustration.

“So? It’s not my fault a platypus-bear decided to move across the nation!” 

Katara glared, and Sokka huffed again, rolling his eyes. “But yeah, let’s ask for directions.” 

Suki went up and tapped a man on the shoulder. “Hello?” 

The man turned, face twisting as he caught a glimpse of the gaang’s...odd clothing. “You’re… not from around here, are you.” 

“Not quite,” Suki replied, with what she hoped was a welcoming smile. 

“Where are you from, then?” the man asked. “There’s certainly a lot of variety among you.” 

“Well-” 

Toph pushed to the front of the group, interrupting Suki. “This is taking too long.” She faced down the man. “Did the Avatar pass through here?” 

The man let out a strangled noise as he took in Toph’s currently hulking form, made a full three feet taller than normal by the armour she wore. With the faceplate down, she looked  _ very  _ formidable. 

“Yeah, he was here two weeks ago! He went into those woods over there!” The man pointed before bringing his hands up to cover his head. “I swear that’s all I know please don’t hurt me-” he squeaked. 

Toph’s muffled giggles could be heard. Katara shot her a glare and pushed her out of the way. “I am so sorry about  _ Toph _ —” she shot the offending earthbender another glare “—she’s not going to hurt you. Thanks for all the help.”

“We’ll be sure to put in a good word for you with our good pal the Avatar”, Sokka added. 

The man looked only marginally reassured by this. 

\-----

The gaang made their way to the edge of the forest. “I doubt Aang took the roads, so it looks like we won’t be able to ride the ostrich-horses anymore,” Sokka mused. 

Zuko nodded in agreement. “Especially forests this dense. Ostrich-horses do  _ not  _ do well with this much undergrowth.” He shivered, recalling the one time he and Uncle had tried that. They had very quickly regretted it. 

“It’s pretty dark in there,” Katara said, squinting as she stared into the gloom. “Like, darker than a normal forest should be. Even one this thick.” 

Sokka grimaced. “Well, we’re probably in the right place then.”

“Sparky can take care of that, for all you people who rely on sight”, Toph said. “Won’t be a problem for me.” 

“We can probably drop the disguises,” Suki suggested, shedding her noble robes to reveal her traveling clothes underneath. 

“Not me,” Toph grinned, flexing her plated arms, the metal creaking and groaning as she did so. “Why would I wanna stop looking so badass?”

“Speak for yourself.” Zuko shrugged as he removed his eyepatch. “Wow, now instead of it being completely dark in one eye, I can see vague blurry shapes in one eye. The wonder of sight.”

The gang, excluding Toph, changed back into their normal clothes, and apprehensively headed into the dark woods. 

They had only been walking for a few moments when they heard heavy footsteps, followed by a loud screech of terror. The gaang turned towards the rustling undergrowth, shifting into fighting stances as the noises got louder.

A white blur leapt out of the bushes, slamming right into Sokka’s face. He screamed, clawing at his head as the creature desperately scrambled for a hold, screeching. It was unclear who was being louder. 

Eventually Sokka pulled the creature off, holding it in front of him to see- 

“Momo?”

The lemur only chirped in response.

Sokka turned towards the rest of the gang, still holding Momo in front of him. “Well, we definitely know Aang was here.”

“But what was chasing Momo?” Katara asked.

There was a low growl from behind them. The gang froze, cautiously turning around to see the source of the noise. A large creature, taller than even Toph in her armor, towered over them. It was an odd translucent green, with golden wisps for eyes.

There was silence, the only noise Sokka’s nervous gulp.

“Fuck.” Toph said.

That was apparently the bear-spirit’s cue, and it charged towards them with a thunderous roar. The gaang screamed, and quickly sprinted away, Zuko sending a wave of fire behind them.

“You idiot, it’s a spirit! That won't do anything but make it angrier!” Sokka screamed at him. Zuko swore as the bear-spirit’s roar grew louder, the sound getting closer and closer until-

There was a large roar back, and a blur of white behind them tackled the bear-spirit. “Appa!” Katara shouted excitedly, and the bison lowed happily in response. The bear-spirit had disappeared at some point, and they were all the more grateful for it.

The five of them ran and hugged Appa, the bison lowing in response. Momo chittered excitedly as he climbed on top of Appa’s head.

“Appa buddy, it’s so good to see you!” Sokka said excitedly. “Do you know where Aang is? He was supposed to meet us in Ba Sing Se, but never showed.”

Appa grumbled, then turned and lumbered through the underbrush. The five of them quickly followed as Appa plowed through the dark trees, sincerely hoping the sky bison knew where he was going. 

Eventually, Appa led them out from under the tree cover into a small, grassy clearing, lacking that same unearthly darkness. In contrast, rays of sunlight lit up the area, the flowers almost glowing. In the center of the clearing was a large, ancient-looking tree with an odd hollow in the center. Around the tree there were spirits of every kind floating around, some laying on the grass and others hanging from the tree. A blue bunny with two rings on its front paws and what looked like a mustache pattern on its fur fluttered over to Sokka, using its insect wing-like ears to flap. 

Sokka hesitantly reached out to pet it. “Hey, little guy,” he said nervously as he scratched behind its ears. It purred contentedly. 

Katara, Suki, and Zuko all stared in awe. “Woah,” Zuko whispered as a tiny grey-green dragon flew over his head, long golden fins trailing behind.

Appa sat down with a  _ fwump _ in a particularly sunny patch of grass, yawning as he closed his eyes. 

Momo scurried over to the large tree, chittering as he crawled up to the hollowed section in the center. The gang moved closer, noticing an odd…  _ something _ inside the space.

It was difficult to comprehend. It looked like a small tear, glowing a soft yellow and yet constantly shifting and moving as it changed into indescribable colors. 

Toph’s armor creaked as she frowned. “What? What is it?”

Zuko grabbed her arm, leaning forward. He reached out a hand, entranced. “It’s a sort of... rift.”

Sokka grabbed the other boy's hand. “Let’s not go touching weird spirit stuff, especially when we have no idea what it is. For all we know, this thing could have eaten Aang!”

Katara snorted, crossing her arms. “Sokka, I really doubt a glowy tear could have  _ eaten _ Aang.”

Sokka huffed. “You never know!” 

Momo chittered in agreement, scurrying away from the tree and towards a sleeping Appa.   
  


“Ok guys, I have a plan.” Zuko said, still holding onto Toph. He grabbed onto Katara’s arm with his other hand. “We all hang on to each other and then one of us touches it. So if it does something weird, we can all deal with it together.”

Sokka frowned. “I don’t know if that's a good idea-hey!” Toph cut him off, wrapping a metal-clad arm around Sokka. Katara grabbed onto Suki, who’s cheeks turned a slight shade of pink.

“I’m not touching that! I didn’t agree to this!” Sokka shrieked as Suki reached out towards the tear. Her fingers connected with the golden rift, and the five of them were enveloped in a blinding flash of white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dun, where did they go? 
> 
> next update should be Thursday and will conclude this lovely 3 part story, i love yall! go eat/drink something and take ur meds -lilac


	3. Spirit World Shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay it's Aru, here to bring you the finale to this epic story. What a week it has been. I've just... not been motivated to write, even though I have the next few chapters of my story outlined perfectly well. Vibes, I guess. I am very tired. And Brain has moved on to listening to the She-Ra ost on repeat, so that's fun.

Katara was the first to wake up. Her head was throbbing painfully, but other than that, she seemed okay. That was good; she could have healed herself if she’d gotten any injuries, but it was better to conserve water she had on her for combat; she wasn’t sure if there would be any available in the environment here. 

Speaking of, where  _ was  _ here? 

Katara looked over and saw her four companions sprawled out nearby, seemingly still knocked out. Casting her gaze beyond them, she was able to determine that they were in a glowy… somewhere. The dreamlike landscape was kind of blurry around the edges, like she was looking at it through water. Shapes like trees stretched above her, but this definitely wasn’t the forest they had been in before. Faint, unearthly whispers reached her ears, strangely alluring, yet unsettling at the same time. 

A groan came from behind. She turned to see Suki waking up, looking around blearily and rubbing her head. “Where are we?”

“That’s a good question,” Katara said. 

The rest of the gaang had begun waking up as well, pushing themselves to their feet. Sokka glanced around. “Ah, shit.” He groaned. “We’re in the spirit world.”

“We’re in the WHAT?” Zuko shrieked. 

“Cool!” Toph said at the same time. 

“Fuck,” muttered Suki, reaching for her fans. 

Sokka held his hands up. “Everything is fine! Don’t you guys worry; I’ve been here before, I know what I’m doing.” 

At that moment, a roar echoed through the swirly-tree-things behind them, shaking the ground. Sokka shrieked, jumping two feet in the air. 

Toph snickered. “Know what you’re doing, huh, Snoozles?”

“I was just startled!” Sokka said indignantly. 

“Uh, guys?”, Katara asked, raising a hand tentatively. “How are we going to get out of here?”

“I don’t think the rift we came through is here anymore,” Suki said, glancing around. 

“Well, staying in this clearing isn’t going to get us anywhere”, Sokka said, clapping his hands together. 

“Are you sure just walking off in a random direction in the literal  _ spirit world  _ is a good idea?” Zuko said nervously. 

“I’m open if you have better ideas,” Sokka said with a shrug. No one offered any. “Okay then. Looking around it is.”

Cautiously, the gaang formed into a loose formation. All of them were on edge, and ready to fight. The strange noises continued, which didn’t help anyone’s nerves. 

Finally, Toph spoke up. “Do we even know what we’re looking for?”

“Another glowy tear?” Suki offered, coming to a stop.

“And then what? What if that doesn’t get us out of here?” Zuko asked, gazing around nervously. 

“Uh, guys?” Katara said. 

  
  
“But what about Aang?” Suki asked, ignoring Katara. “Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

“He’s the Avatar, he knows what he’s doing with spirit world stuff,” Sokka said. “We… do not.”

“Guys!” Katara said excitedly. The rest of the gaang members whipped their heads around. “You’re going to want to look at this!” 

Katara was pointing through the tree-shapes, to a spot where the spindly trunks thinned. Through the gaps, the gaang could make out a glowy, yellow-green… something. 

“We should check it out,” Suki said. 

“Wait, are you sure going towards the weird glowing thing in the spirit world is the  _ best  _ idea?” Sokka asked. 

“Snoozles, it’s the spirit world. Everything’s a weird glowing thing”, Toph said, waving a hand flippantly. “Don’t be a pussy.”

Sokka spluttered. “I’m not a pussy! I just have common sense!” 

But Suki, Toph, and Katara were already off. Zuko patted Sokka sympathetically. “For the record, I’m with you. Probably shouldn’t let those three get killed on their own, though.” 

Sokka sighed heavily and nodded, pulling his boomerang off his back. “Let’s go.”

Sokka and Zuko hastily followed after the other three gaang members as they emerged out from the trees onto rough, gravelly sand. Before them stretched a glowing lake, the expanse swirling with that yellow-green color they’d glimpsed through the trees. It reflected a sickly sky, just as alien as everything else in the spirit world. 

Katara had jogged down to crouch on the water’s edge. “I can bend it,” she murmured. “I think it’s just regular water. Or spirit-water, maybe.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t be getting so close to the ‘spirit water’,” Sokka said.    
  


“Don’t tell me what to do.” Katara retorted. 

Sokka opened his mouth to reply when a huge rumble shook the shore. Everyone but Toph stumbled. 

“Shit,” Sokka hissed. 

“What the fuck was that,” Zuko hissed, whipping around. 

The glowy spirit-water rippled, sending waves lapping at the shoreline. Katara began backing away. 

“I think we should run,” Toph said evenly.    
  


The rest of the gaang nodded immediately, but before they even had the chance to turn, something burst out of the lake in front of them, sending water crashing straight towards the gaang. Katara reacted on instinct, only just barely managing to deflect the wave into the trees next to them. The  _ thing  _ that had come out of the water didn’t give them a second to think. It was about the size of an elephant-koi, but thinner like a dragon, with glimmering skin the color of the water around it and fins running all up its back and sides. 

“Shit.” She whispered.

“Run!”, Sokka screeched. No one argued that as they scrambled around, hightailing it back towards the trees. The spirit let out another roar. 

“It shouldn’t… be able… to get out of… the lake… right?”, Suki panted. 

As if her words had been a challenge, a sharp  _ crack  _ sounded from behind them. Everyone could infer the source. 

“Should we fight it?”, Zuko called.

“Why would we  _ fight it?! _ ” Sokka screeched. “It’s a  _ spirit!” _

“Well do you have a better plan?!” Zuko screamed. 

“We can just outrun it!” Katara called. “It’s got to tire eventually, right?”

Toph, who had managed to get out ahead, skidded to a halt. “Fuck!”

“That better be a good fuck!” Sokka called. 

“Sorry to disappoint!”

The rest of the gaang just barely managed to curb their momentum as they were met with a sheer cliff face. 

“Why?” Sokka lamented. 

“Toph, can you like, earthbend us up or something?” Katara asked frantically. 

At that moment, the spirit burst from the trees. It had now sprouted too-many-to-count pairs of insectoid legs, making its imposing appearance edge into menacing territory. Where before it had been the same color as the lake, its body was now a decidedly angry shade of red. Its fiery white eyes narrowed, and it let out a resounding screech. 

“Guess we’re fighting it, then” Suki sighed. 

“For the record, this is a terrible plan”, Sokka said. 

The creature stomped. Toph stomped at the same time, just barely managing to launch the gathered gaang members out of the way. “Surround it!”, Sokka called. 

Katara bent the water out of her canteen, gathering it into a water whip. Zuko punched a bolt of fire at the spirit’s side before rolling beneath its belly, a decision he promptly realized was, perhaps, not the best course of action. He yelped as he barely cleared one of the spirit’s swiping legs. 

Sokka swapped his boomerang out for his sword and charged forward to hack at the spirit’s legs. Thankfully, they weren’t very durable; his space sword sliced through the appendages with relative ease. The spirit let out an enraged squeal at each hit. 

Toph wrenched two chunks of rock out of the cliff, holding them at the ready. With a grin, she kicked them one by one into the spirit’s side. Meanwhile, Katara had circled around the spirit’s back and started lashing at its tail with her water whip. Then, she stopped, a realization coming over her. 

“We can’t beat this thing!”, Katara called. “Remember Hei Bai?” 

Sokka stopped. “Shit. You’re right.” 

“Well, what can we do?” Zuko cried, sending a wave of flames at the spirit’s face. 

“Well, I don’t think we can calm it down at this point,” Sokka said. “We just need to distract it long enough to get out of its domain.” 

“I nominate Sparky,” Toph said cheekily. 

Zuko looked betrayed. “Why me?!”

Toph’s grin turned mischievous even as she bent the ground beneath the spirit. “Because you’re a NERD!” She broke down laughing. 

Zuko went red as a tomato. 

“Any actual plans?”, Sokka interrupted. 

“It seems linked to the lake,” Suki called from above. She had scaled one of the trees. “Maybe we can use that?”

Katara looked up. “What if we led it back there?”

“How would that help?” Zuko panted. He had turned to using his swords, slashing the spirit’s legs just like Sokka. 

“Well… maybe we could calm it down!” Katara exclaimed. “If we can show it that we mean no harm.”

“I… think we’re past that,” Sokka commented. 

“But maybe it will leave us alone if we just…” Katara cut herself off as the spirit whipped its finned tail towards her, ducking with a yelp. Her water whip splashed apart as it was hit. 

“Works for me!” Toph called. “Everyone move!” 

The other four teens jumped to the side as Toph thrust her arms forward, the resulting wave of earth catching the spirit with a shriek. It was thrown back into the trees as the rest of the gaang started sprinting towards the lake. The spirit was stunned for a moment before it twisted around and surged after the gaang. 

“This is a terrible plan,” Zuko deadpanned. 

“Aren’t they all?” Suki sighed. 

The teens rushed through the trees until they came back up on the shoreline, the spirit’s crashing hot on their tails. “Watch out! I’m going to try something!”, Katara cried. The other gaang members scrambled to the side as Katara halted before the lake, steadying her stance. She took a deep breath, trying to tune out the racket made by the swiftly approaching spirit. 

“We don’t mean you any harm!”, she called. With a sweep of her arm, she lifted some of the water above the lake in a spiral. “You care about the lake, right?” 

The spirit halted. Its whiskered head tilted, scuttering legs going still. 

Slowly, Katara inched out of the way, bending the water to circle herself. “We don’t want to hurt you, or your lake. We just want to find our friend.” 

The angry red glow of the spirit’s skin faded somewhat, and the blaze of its eyes toned down. It opened its mouth, voice coming out in a gravelly rumble. “A friend, you say? What kind of  _ friend  _ would mortals like you have in this realm?”

None of them had expected the spirit to speak to them. Katara opened her mouth, then closed it again, before finally stuttering out, “The- the avatar.”

The spirit crouched, legs scuttering as it circled around Katara. She barely managed to hold steady. Finally, it spoke again, voice low. “You humans have insulted me, and my home, by stepping foot here. But I am feeling merciful today, and I suppose we can let… bygones be bygones.” Slowly, deliberately, it sunk into the water, punctuating its words with a subtle flare of its rows of fins. “If you leave. Immediately.” 

Katara dipped her head quickly, not wanting to upset the spirit in any way. “Of course.”

“And one more thing”, the spirit purred, only its head still above the water. “You say you seek the avatar?” The spirit didn’t wait for an answer. “He is near. To the north.” The spirit’s eyes flashed, menacing once again. “Now  **leave** .”

Katara nodded breathlessly, turning. “Let’s go,” she whispered. The rest of the gaang didn’t hesitate to follow as she ran into the forest.

\----- 

The five of them walked in the direction which was hopefully north, considering they had no way to navigate, and eventually stumbled their way out of the spirit forest.

“Woah,” Katara whispered as the five of them stared. They were now standing in front of a large grassy plain, the fronds coming up to their knees. The whole area was much more brightly colored, with the sky being an odd mix of warm blues, yellows, and purples. In the distance, there was what looked like a small building.

Zuko pointed towards the aforementioned building. “Something tells me that’s our goal.” The others nodded, and they began walking towards it.

As they walked, the grass began to get shorter, and they noticed a small gravel path leading up the building. Getting closer, they could notice more details about the building. It was a small white house, more of a cottage really, with an odd mushroom-like shape, and a small red chimney puffing golden smoke. Next to the house was a large mushroom, glowing green, blue, and gold. Laying beside it was Aang’s staff, propped up against the wall. Snippets of conversation and laughter became audible as the gaang made their way towards the cottage. 

They stopped a few feet from the door, looking at each other awkwardly.

“So, what do we do now?” Sokka asked.

Zuko stormed forward, a terrifying look on his face that his eyebags only made worse. He pushed up his sleeves. “I know  _ exactly _ what we’re gonna do.” And with a sudden war cry, he kicked the door in.

\-----

“AANG, WHERE THE  _ FUCK _ HAVE YOU BEEN?”

At Zuko’s cry, there was a chorus of surprised screams and sudden crashing noises.

The rest of the gaang filed in behind him to see… what looked like a tea party?

Inside the cottage was a large round table with plates of pastries and a teapot resting on top of it. Three beings were around the table, one of them having toppled over in surprise, and another one standing, its chair knocked to the floor. The third being was Aang. He was sitting down, clutching a teacup close to his chest, and looking very confused.

No one could blame him.

The spirit standing was a humanoid lemur, similar to an aye-aye in appearance, with a necklace and odd dark markings under its eyes. It also looked very angry. “Who are you?” It asked, pointing a finger at them. 

Zuko pointed right back at the aye-aye spirit. “We should be asking you that!” He turned his gaze to Aang. “And you! What the fuck have you been doing?”

Aang, who only looked more bewildered by the minute, hesitantly offered up his teacup. “Having a tea party?”

Zuko spluttered. “A tea party?”

Katara quickly stepped forward, attempting to cut him off. “Now, I’m sure that if we all calmed down-”

“No!” Zuko shouted. “I am running on three hours of sleep right now and have been worried sick because my friend has been missing for two weeks and it turns out he’s been in the spirit world having a fucking  _ tea party _ ?”

“Zuko, just calm down-”   
  


“I see you humans are as disrespectful as always-” The aye-aye growled, stepping forward.

But before anything could happen, there was a loud roar. Everyone was quiet as the other spirit slowly stood up from where he had been lying on the floor. He looked similar to the spirit they had seen earlier in the forest, bear-like with golden wisps for eyes, but this one was a translucent pink color instead. His ears and his long tail were made of an odd bluish substance that looked similar to smoke. He brushed the dirt off his legs. “Now, then,” he said in an oddly posh accent. “Where were we?”

Grumpily, the aye-aye spirit sat down, scowling as he sipped his tea. Aang slowly uncurled, setting his cup down on the table.

The bear spirit nodded at the gaang, who were standing there awkwardly. “Would you all like some tea?”

\-----

The bear spirit had poured everyone a cup of tea, and now somehow all of them were squeezed in around the large table.

“So, what brings you here?” the bear spirit asked as Sokka reached out and snagged a cookie. 

“Well,” Katara began. “We’re all friends with Aang here. The Avatar,” she added awkwardly. Aang waved cheerfully in response as he took a sip of his tea.

The aye-aye scowled. “You should get some more polite friends, Avatar.”

Aang frowned. “That’s not nice. They’re really good friends!” He turned and smiled at them, but then frowned. “How did you guys even get here anyway?”

“There was a weird glowy rift in a tree and we touched it. Then we woke up here,” Sokka mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.

Aang smacked his head. “Shoot! You guys weren't supposed to touch that.”

“Hang on.” Katara interrupted. “Aang, what exactly are you doing here?”

Aang sighed. “It’ll be easier if I start from the beginning. About a week ago, I heard rumors of a bunch of weird spirit activity around this area of Earth Kingdom towns. Eventually I tracked the source of all the activity to Idika village, and found this weird spirit grove with a tree. There was this oddly glowing rift inside the tree, so I touched it and wound up in the spirit world! I talked with these guys-,” he gestured towards the two spirits, “-and they explained that I went through a kind of spirit portal!”

“Woah woah woah, a spirit  _ portal _ ? I thought you could only go to the spirit world if you meditated or did some spirit mumbo jumbo!” Sokka interrupted. “ And you’re telling me there’s actual  _ portals _ spirits can go through? Why don’t we see spirits everywhere then?” 

The aye-aye sighed. “It is not that simple, human. There are two true spirit portals, one in the North and one in the South. Many eons ago, the very first Avatar closed them so humans and spirits would remain separated. But the fabric between the two worlds is thin, and occasionally there are small tears between them that we spirits can pass through. I believe a prominent example of this would be Wang Shi Tong?” At that Sokka winced, and the aye-aye glared. “Typical. But the reason Wang Shi Tong and his library were able to exist in the human realm was due to a small rip between realms. When he withdrew his library, he closed the tear behind him.”

The bear-spirit took a sip of his tea, then put his cup down. “Idika village has a guardian spirit, me, due to a small tear. But a few other spirits noticed it, and tried to go through. Since the war ended, it’s much safer in the human realm now, and many wanted to explore.” The bear sighed. “But too many of them tried to squeeze through, and the rip widened and widened until it became visible to humans as well.” He stared solemnly out the window. “These tears are not proper portals, and if left alone can become dangerous. The smaller ones are alright, but if one as large as this is left untreated, it will destabilize both realms and destroy them.”

The group was quiet as they took a moment to process. Aang spoke up. “Eventually I figured out how to close them up. It’s mostly closed now, just open enough for me to get back and finish sealing it on the other side. But they invited me for tea, and I couldn’t help but stay for a little while…” He gave them all an odd look. “Why did you all storm in here like that? I’ve only been here for a few days.”

“Aang…” Katara gazed at him anxiously. “It’s been two weeks. You were supposed to show up at the summit two days ago.”

Aang looked confused. “What?” He turned to the spirits, confused. “But… It’s only been a few hours!”

The bear-spirit nodded wisely. “Time passes differently in the spirit world.”

Aang looked panicked. “Well, I didn’t know that!” He stood up suddenly, setting down his teacup. “It’s been really wonderful talking with all of you, and I wish I could stay a bit longer. But if it’s really been two weeks, then I need to get back.”

The aye-aye nodded. “Understandable, Avatar. Take care as you go.”

The bear-spirit waved. “Stop by again soon, young Avatar!”

The others stood up, and Aang nodded. “You guys ready to go?”

Sokka groaned as he stood up. “Buddy, I’ve been ready to go since we got here.”

“Show us the way, oh majestic Avatar,” Toph said, gesturing forward as they walked outside.

Aang grabbed his staff and walked around to the back of the house. There was a circle of mushrooms, each glowing different colors and patterns, and in the center was a small golden rift similar to the one they had previously entered.

The six of them stepped inside the mushroom circle, and the rift seemed to pulse as they entered. They all grabbed hands, and Aang reached out towards the rift. He stopped, right as his fingers were about to touch it. 

He looked nervously. “You guys are all good?”

Katara nodded. “Yeah, Aang. Let’s do this.”

Aang grinned and touched the rift, and the six of them were enveloped in a blinding flash of light as they were transported back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Yeah, I just really wanted to write some action in there cuz bending's fun to play around with -Aru


End file.
